New Song Students OKC

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:57-62

COUNTING THE COST

THE WAY OF JESUS

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”[b] 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 4:18-19

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

John 1:35-42

38 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

Luke 4:38-39

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. 

Luke 5:1-3

When the disciples said “yes” to following Jesus, they were choosing to follow Him from now on as their rabbi.

“Contrary to what many assume, Jesus did not invite people to convert to Christianity. He didn’t even call people to become Christians; he invited people to apprentice under him into a whole new way of living. To be transformed.”

John Mark Comer

Bet-sefer “House of Book”

Bet-midrash “House of Learning”

Talmid“Apprenticeship”

Simon and Andrew were fisherman. Think about that for a second: This means they didn’t make it into an apprenticeship program. They weren’t the best of the best; they were the ones who got sent home to “make babies and pray they become rabbis.” But Jesus invited them to be His apprentices. Before they believed in Jesus, He believed in them.

John Mark Comer

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 

Matthew 16:24

Apprentices had three main objectives:

1. Be with their rabbi

1. Become like their rabbi

1. Do what their rabbi did
    

As of 2023, 68% of Americans identify as Christian.

Gallup

If disciple is something that is done to you (a verb), then that puts the onus of responsibility for your spiritual formation on someone else, like your pastor, church, or mentor. But if disciple is a noun—if it’s someone you are or are not—then no one can “disciple” you but Rabbi Jesus Himself.

John Mark Comer

WE NEED AN OLD VISION OF DISCIPLESHIP

Apprentices to Jesus is about:

1. Being with Jesus
2. Become like Jesus
3. Doing what Jesus did

There is no problem in human life that apprenticeship to Jesus cannot solve.

Dallas Willard

THERE IS A COST TO FOLLOW JESUS

THE WAY OF JESUS IS CONFLICTING

59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:57-62

THE WAY OF JESUS IS ALL-CONSUMING

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 

Matthew 16:24

THERE IS A COST TO NOT FOLLOW JESUS

“People often complain about how hard the spiritual life is. And the honest truth is, yes, it is. Bu that’s missing from this diagnosis is that the unspiritual life is even harder. Life is hard, with or without God. But what’s really hard—nearly unbearable for some—is facing the pain and suffering of life apart from God. So is trying to save yourself rather than be saved. Living in a godless, shepherdess, meaningless universe—that’s really, really hard.” 

John Mark Comer

25 For whoever would save his life[g] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Matthew 16:24

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20

John 11:17-38

WELCOME

CAMP! 

RECAP SERIES

BROKEN

WHAT BREAKS THE HEART OF JESUS?

SORROW (John 11)

He was weeping with those who weep. He wasn’t weeping because of the end of Lazarus, because the end of Lazarus was going to be resurrection. He was weeping because of the sorrow of Mary and Martha. This is the empathy, the sympathy, the tenderness, the kindness of Christ manifesting itself in that setting.

John MacArthur

IDOLS (Matthew 20, and Acts 17)

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Luke 19:41-44

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

Acts 17:16

As Paul sailed to Athens from the sea near Berea, he came to a city he had probably never been to before, and like any tourist, he was ready to be impressed by this famous and historic city – which, hundreds of years before, was one of the most glorious and important cities in the world. But when Paul toured Athens, he was only depressed by the magnitude of the idolatry he saw all around.

David Guzik

Jesus here showed the heart of God, how even when judgment must be pronounced, it is never done with joy. Even when God’s judgment is perfectly just and righteous, His heart weeps at the bringing of the judgment.

David Guzik

SIN (Matthew 26)

DOES MY HEART BREAK FOR THE THINGS THAT BREAK THE HEART OF CHRIST?

I asked the Lord to give me love - 

His love for souls in sin;

Instead He gave me weeping eyes,

A broken heart within.

I asked Him why He gave me tears,

He took me back in time

To when my Savior lived on earth,

When He was in His prime.

I saw Him go to where His friend

Was lying in a grave;

The sisters and their friends were grieved -

What love to them He gave.

You see my Savior standing there

Was also grieved that day,

He wept great heaving tears with sobs

Till those who saw could say:

"Behold we see now how He loved."

His tears revealed His heart

His love was evident through tears -

I saw God's point in part.

And then He took me to the day 

The people hailed their King

While Jesus enters to their cheers

The children run and sing.

But when He saw Jerusalem

Stretched out before His eye,

His soul was moved with grief for them;

It moved His heart to cry.

Oh, as I read those solemn words

I feel that they are sweet

For in them I behold His love

So perfect and complete.

To one more place He took me now,

At midnight I beheld

The Son of God bowed down with grief

In deepest sorrow held.

I heard His weeping, strong and deep,

But through it I discerned

He prayed for me - it melted me,

His love for me I learned.

With tearful joy I thanked the Lord

For answering my prayer,

For giving me His love for souls -

His tears, His heart, His care.

Christina Joy Hommes 

Christina Joy Hommes

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16

THE TEARS OF JESUS OF JESUS REVEAL HIS DEEP LOVE FOR US

In our pain, Jesus is pained; in our suffering, he feels the suffering as his own even though it isn’t — not that his invincible divinity is threatened, but in the sense that his heart is feeling drawn into our distress. His human nature engages our troubles comprehensively. His is a love that cannot be had back when he sees his people in pain.

Dane C. Ortlund

THE TEARS OF JESUS LEAD HIM TO PRAY FOR US

It is not only that Jesus can relieve us from our troubles, like a doctor prescribing medicine; it is also that, before any relief comes, he is with us in our troubles, like a doctor who has endured the same disease.

Dane C. Ortlund

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Romans 8:31-34

THE TEARS OF JESUS INVITE US TO BE NEAR TO HIM

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,

Hebrews 4:16a

THE TEARS OF JESUS MOVE HIM TO DO SOMETHING WE DON’T HAVE THE POWER TO DO

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

Jesus’ sinlessness means that he knows temptation better than we ourselves do. C.S. Lewis made this point by speaking of a man walking against the wind. Once the wind of temptation gets strong enough, the man lies down, giving in — and thus not knowing what it would have been like tens minutes later. Jesus never lay down; he endured all our temptations and testings without ever giving in. He therefore knows the strength of temptation better than any of us. Only he truly knows the cost.

Dane C. Ortlund 

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

“

5

Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed 

the name of the LORD.

6

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The 

LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in 

goodness and truth, 

7

keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and 

transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the 

fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth 

generation.”

-

Exodus 34:5

-

7

“

We have a domesticated view that, for all its doctrinal precision, has downsized 

the glory of Christ in our hearts.”

-

Dane C. Ortlund

.

“

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father and no one knows the Son 

except the Father nor does anyone know the Father except the Son

...”

Matthew 

11:27

“...no one knows except the Father and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal 

him

.”

Matthew 11:27

“

5

Now the LORD 

descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed 

the name of the LORD.

6

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The 

LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in 

goodness and truth, 

7

keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and 

transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the 

fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth 

generation.”

Exodus 34:5

-

7

mercy is God not giving me what I deserve (i.e. punishment) and grace is God 

giving me what I do not deserve (i.e. blessings)

“

Who He is, is not the same as what He does. Often, when we seek to define or 

relate to Jesus, we think of what He has done for us. This, however, is only a 

partial glimpse of Him. What he does comes from who He is.”

-

Dane C. Ortlund

“

It will be seen that mercy in God is not merely His pardon of offenders, but His 

attitude to man and to the world genuinely, from which His pardoning mercy 

proceeds

.”

-

Bible H

ub App

“The LORD, the LORD God...”Exodus 34:6

.

“

This name

-

Yahweh (the LORD)

-

was the same name for God that Abraham, 

Isaac, and Jacob knew; this was no new revelation of God. God presented Himself 

as the 

e

ternal, immutable God.”

-

Enduring 

Word App

Mt Moriah

:

Abraham and Isaac (Gen 22)

“

Take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love...and offer him there as 

a burnt offering.” Genesis 22:2

.

“And Abraham said, ‘My son God will provide for Himself the lamb. So

,

the two 

of them went together.” Genesis 22:8

God provided the sacrifice 

for

Abraham

Forgiveness is on display

“Take now your son, your only son Isaac...” Genesis 22:2

God provided His own sacrifice

“you shall not give any of your children to offer them [by fire sacrifice] to Molech 

[the god of the Ammonites]

.”

-

Levitic

us 18:21

“[I] will provide for [myself] the lamb for the offering.” Genesis 22:8

It is a foreshadow of the mountain where God the Father would offer his only Son 

and this time, the Son would die the Lambs death

Golgotha

: Jesus (Mark 15)

“Golgotha and the ancient site of mount Moriah may be the same area. In other 

words, Jesus may have been crucified near Moriah or at its summit

.”

-

Jon Coursin

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever 

believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send 

His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him 

might be saved.”

-

Joh

n 3:16

-

17

The fact the He gave, is grace

. 

That we do not perish, is mercy

“It embraces a profound sacrificial love that transcends and persist

s

regardless of 

circumstance.”

-

Wikipedia

“

But God, who 

is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 

even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by 

grace you have been saved). And raised us up together and made us sit together in 

the heavenly places in Christ

Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the 

exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by 

grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift 

of God, not of works, lest anyone should

boast. For we are His workmanship 

created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we 

should walk in them.”

-

Ephesians 2:4

-

10

The heart of God th

e

Father and God the Son is a heart of mercy and grace

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:25-30 

18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

2 Peter 3:18

You can “know” honey in two distinct ways: you can know the exact chemical makeup of honey; or you can taste it. Both are ways we can “know” honey. But only the latter is the knowledge by which honey is experienced.

Jonathan Edwards

He [Jesus] is a person. Not just a historical figure, but an actual person, alive and well today. He is to be related to. Trusted, spoken to, listened to. Jesus is not a concept. Not an ideal. Not a force. Growing in Christ is relational, not a formulaic, experience. 

Dane Ortlund

GENTLE AND LOWLY

WHAT IS AT THE CORE OF THE HEART OF JESUS?

Many know Jesus through the things he did, said or simply that He once lived on this earth, but few know the HEART of Jesus; Jesus at the core.

What Do Americans Believe About Jesus? (Barna Research)

1. The vast majority of Americans believe Jesus was a real person. (92%)

1. Younger generations are increasingly less likely to believe Jesus is God. (44%)

1. Americans are divided on whether Jesus was sinless (52%)

1. Most Americans say they have made a commitment to Jesus Christ (55-70%)

1. People are conflicted between “Jesus” and “Good deeds” as The Way to heaven (60%)

A wife may tell you much about her husband — his height, his eye color, his eating habits, his education, his job, his handiness around the house, his best friend, his hobbies, his Myers-Brggs personality profile, his favorite sports team. But what can she say to communicate his knowing gaze across the table over a dinner at their favorite restaurant? That look that reflects years of ever deepening friendship, thousands of conversations and arguments through which they have safely come, a time-ripened settling into the assurance of embrace, come what may? THAT GLANCE speaks in a moment his loving protection more clearly than a thousand words? In short, what can she say to communicate to another her husbands heart for her? It is one thing to describe what your husband says and does and looks like. It is something else, something deeper and more real, to describe his heart for you. So with Christ. It is one thing to know the doctrines of the incarnation and the atonement and a hundred other vital doctrines (beliefs). It is another, more searching matter to know his heart for you. 

Dane Ortlund

JESUS AS RULING KING?

King Jesus picture

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

John 18:37

Human nature dictates that the wealthier a person, the more they tend to look down on the poor. The more beautiful a person, the more they are put off by the ugly. And without realizing what we are doing, we quietly assume that one so high and exalted has correspondingly difficulty drawing near to the despicable and unclean.

Dane Ortlund

JESUS AS SPOTLESS AND HOLY?

Spotless lamb picture

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

Luke 7:39

JESUS AS TEACHER?

Teacher-Jesus picture

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them,

Matthew 5:1

JESUS AS A COSMIC FORCE?

Cosmic-Jesus picture

16 For by[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

Colossians 1:16-17

JESUS AS SAVIOR?

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 

Matthew 16:13-17

Christ =  Christos: “anointed”; the messiah, son of God

WHO DOES JESUS SAY HE IS?

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 

Matthew 11:2-3

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”[f]

Matthew 11:18-19

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 

Matthew 11:20

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

WHAT IS JESUS LIKE ACCORDING TO JESUS?

I am gentle and lowly in heart.

Matthew 11:29

GENTLE AND LOWLY

Praos = gentle: meek, humble

Tapeinos = lowly: not rising far from the ground

The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible. For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one human in history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ. No prerequisites. No hoops to jump through.

Dane Ortlund

WHO GETS TO KNOW JESUS AT HIS VERY CORE ACCORDING TO JESUS?

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,

Matthew 11:2...

Psalm 119:65-72

“Why do we suffer in this world if God loves us so much?”

THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL

QUESTIONS LEAD US TO JESUS.

QUESTIONS ARE NOT NEW

9 What has been is what will be,

    and what has been done is what will be done,

    and there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

8 God said to Satan, “Have you noticed my friend Job?

There’s no one quite like him—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil.”

9-10 Satan retorted, “So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can’t lose!

Job 1:8-9

12 God replied, “We’ll see. Go ahead—do what you want with all that is his. Just don’t hurt him.” Then Satan left the presence of God.

Job 1:12

11-13 Three of Job’s friends heard of all the trouble that had fallen on him. Each traveled from his own country—Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuhah, Zophar from Naamath—and went together to Job to keep him company and comfort him. When they first caught sight of him, they couldn’t believe what they saw—they hardly recognized him! They cried out in lament, ripped their robes, and dumped dirt on their heads as a sign of their grief. Then they sat with him on the ground. Seven days and nights they sat there without saying a word. They could see how rotten he felt, how deeply he was suffering.

Job 2:11-13 

Three things we CAN do when others are suffering:

1. Step into their suffering
2. Empathize with their suffering
3. Don’t try to fix their suffering

Anyone who has spent time with a suffering friend knows how hard it is to remain present without trying to give answers. It is excruciating to suffer silently with a friend who must rebuild life piece by piece, without any certainty about the outcome. Our instinct is to investigate what went wrong and identify a solution. Then we imagine we can help our friend eliminate the cause and get back to normal as soon as possible. Knowing the cause, we will at least know how to avoid the same fate ourselves. We would rather give a reason for the suffering — be it right, be it wrong — than to accept the mystery at the heart of suffering.

Theology of Work, Commentary

13-20 

“Still, if you set your heart on God

    and reach out to him,

If you scrub your hands of sin

    and refuse to entertain evil in your home,

You’ll be able to face the world unashamed

    and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless.

You’ll forget your troubles;

    they’ll be like old, faded photographs.

Your world will be washed in sunshine,

    every shadow dispersed by dawn.

Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again;

    you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy.

Expansive, without a care in the world,

    you’ll be hunted out by many for your blessing.

But the wicked will see none of this.

    They’re headed down a dead-end road

    with nothing to look forward to—nothing.”

Job 11:13-20

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

The disciples regarded this man as an unsolved riddle. They showed no interest in helping the man, but in discussing the cause for his condition.  Jesus will soon show a different way. He won’t dwell on the theological puzzle, but on actually helping the man.

David Guzik

3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 

John 9:1-3

Jesus shifted the question from, “Why is this man suffering?,” to, “What can God do in spite of this suffering?”

WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIND TRUTH IN SUFFERING IF WE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE TRUTH IS.

“THIS ISN’T HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE.”

1. We were made for God

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

John 9:1-3

You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find peace in you.

Augustine of Hippo

1. We chose to separate from God

A THEOLOGY OF SIN (We need to understand the magnitude of sin)

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands;
     no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
     no one does good,
     not even one.”

Romans 3:10-12

The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.

Augustine of Hippo

When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less.

C.S. Lewis

A THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING (We need to understand the purpose of suffering)

7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus[a] offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek

Hebrews 5:7-10 

67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
     but now I keep your word.

Psalm 119:67

I am certain that I never did grow in grace one half so much anywhere as I have upon the bed of pain

Charles Spurgeon

I never knew the meaning of God’s word, until I came into affliction. I have always found it one of my best schoolmasters.

Martin Luther

Yet we must guard against the misunderstanding that seasons of affliction automatically make one better or godlier. Sadly, there are many who are worse from their affliction – because they fail to turn to God’s word for wisdom and life-guidance in such times. The worst affliction of all is a wasted affliction, wasted because we did not turn to God and gained nothing from it.

David Guzik

A THEOLOGY OF...

Psalm 22:1-5

This psalm begins abruptly, with a disturbing scene: someone who knows and trusts God is forsaken, and cries out to God in agony.

David Guzik

“How do you continue to walk with God when you don’t feel His presence and it feels like He isn’t with you?”

THE WALL.

What is The Wall?

What is important here is to note that the trials we encounter each day are not the Wall or “dark night of the soul.” Trials are traffic jams, annoying bosses, delayed airplay departures, car breakdowns, fevers, and barking dogs in the middle of the night.

Peter Scazzero

JOHN OF THE CROSS PHOTO*

continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Philippians 2:12b-13

Wilderness seasons don’t purify us from sin, Jesus already did that. It’s done. It is finished.

“DARK”

How do we know we are in “the dark night”? Our good feelings of God’s presence evaporate. We feel the door of heaven has been shut as we pray. Darkness, helplessness, weariness, a sense of failure or defeat, barrenness, emptiness, dryness descends upon us. The Christian disciplines  that have served us up to this time “no longer work.” We can’t see what God is doing and we see little visible fruit in our lives.

Peter Scazzero

“NIGHT”

weeping may stay for the night,

    but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:5

“SOUL"

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
     Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
     and by night, but I find no rest.

Psalm 22:1-2

We're going on a bear hunt

We're going on a bear hunt

I've got my binoculars

I've got my binoculars

I'm not scared

I'm not scared

Ooh, look at that tall, wavy grass

It's so tall

We can't go over it

We can't go under it

We're just gonna have to go through it

Swish, swish, swish, swish

The Kiboomers

“DO I TRUST GOD?”

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:10-14

When we make it through the wall, we no longer have a need to be well known or successful, but to do God’s will. We have now tasted what it means to live in union with the love of God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. 

Peter Scazzero

For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.

Deuteronomy 2:7

When you accept the fact that sometimes seasons are dry and times are hard and that God is in control of both, you will discover a sense of divine refuge, because the hope then is in God and not in yourself.

Charles Swindoll

Going through “The Wall” helps us un-learn:

1. Pride: They have a tendency to condemn others and become impatient with their faults. They are selective in who can teach them.

1. Avarice: They are discontent with the Spirituality God gives them. They never have enough learning, are always reading many books rather than growing in poverty of spirit  and their interior life.

1. Luxury: They take more pleasure in the spiritual blessings of God rather than God Himself.

1. Wrath: They are easily irritated, lacking sweetness, and have little patience to wait on God.

1. Spiritual Gluttony: They resist the way of the cross and choose pleasures like children do.

1. Spiritual Envy: They feel unhappy when others do well spiritually. They are always comparing.

1. Sloth: They run from that which is hard. Their aim is spiritual sweetness and good feelings.

Going through “The Wall” helps us learn:

1. How to be needy.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 

Romans 4:18-21

1. How to be okay with mystery.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

9 

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 

If you understand, it is not God you understand.

Augustine of Hippo 

The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped — it requires an active participation in following Jesus as he leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory, in circumstances that become clear only in the hesitations and questionings, in the pauses and reflections where we engage in prayerful conversation with one another and with him.

Eugene Peterson

1. How to wait for God.

Wait for the Lord;

    be strong and take heart

    and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:14

1. How to not be tied down.

 29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who b...